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# Fortification Site and Formal Garden
This post-medieval fortification site and 18th-century formal garden lies in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, in an area where the underlying bedrock comprises the Tyrone Group, a geological formation of Visean age. The substrate of limestone, mudstone, sandstone and siltstone, interspersed with chert, coal and conglomerate, would have presented particular challenges and opportunities for both the military engineers who designed the fortification and the gardeners who subsequently laid out the formal garden. The combination of these two landscape features reflects the dual purposes of such sites during the post-medieval period, when fortified positions often served as residences for colonial administrators and landowners.
The site is protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 10175, recognising its significance within the archaeological and architectural heritage of the region. The formal garden represents the refinement and domestication of the landscape that often accompanied fortified settlements in the 18th century, transforming military strongholds into fashionable residences. The earthworks and any surviving structural elements at grid reference H2592443310 preserve evidence of this important phase in Fermanagh's history, when military infrastructure and genteel domestic life coexisted on the same ground.
Fortification(site of) & 18th century formal garden is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 10175. View the official record →
# Fortification Site and Formal Garden This post-medieval fortification site and 18th-century formal garden lies in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, in an area where the underlying bedrock comprises the Tyrone Group, a geological formation of Visean age. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 10175.
Fortification(site of) & 18th century formal garden dates from the post-med period, and is classified as a fortification. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Fortification(site of) & 18th century formal garden is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 10175.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Tamlaght. multiperiod church site & graveyard (e.christian-post med.) with cross-carved stone, finial stone & bullaun (3.3 km), St. sinell. early christian monastery, medieval church (site of) & carved stone in graveyard (3.7 km), Platform rath (4.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Fortification(site of) & 18th century formal garden's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Fortification(site of) & 18th century formal garden stands on Tyrone Group, bedrock that formed in the Visean. The rock here is limestone, mudstone, sandstone and siltstone, with subordinate chert, coal and conglomerate.